FX.co ★ Deadliest pandemics in human history

Plague of Justinian

The Plague of Justinian was a pandemic that erupted during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. The disease is considered to be the first pandemic in history. The plague returned periodically during 6-8 centuries AD.

According to historians, the plague moved from Ethiopia to Egypt and reached Constantinople. The main carriers of the infection were fleas that lived in the wool of ship rats.

Traces of the Justinian plague have been found in South Africa, Arabia, Asia, and Europe. The disease affected the whole civilized world of that time. Various estimates indicate that the Justinian plague killed almost a third part of the world's population, that is from 90 to 150 million people.

Bubonic plague

The Black Death was the second plague pandemic which took place in the 14th century. The major symptoms of the plague were a severe general health condition, fever, lymph node, pulmonary, and other organs involvement, as well as sepsis. The main cause of the spread of bubonic plague was fleas living on rats.

The Black Death travelled to Europe from Africa, India, and China. It killed half of the European population. Later, there were several minor plague outbreaks on the territory of Europe.

Bubonic plague was completely defeated only in 1947 after the invention of streptomycin. The antibiotic was successfully tested during the outbreak of the plague in Manchuria.

Cholera

Cholera is a diarrhoeal disease that became widely known during global climate change that occurred after the eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815.

The effect of a volcanic winter triggered a mutation of the bacteria Vibrio cholerae and caused several epidemics. Thus, cholera came to Russia in 1830-1831. It is believed that the second wave of epidemic originated from the Ganges Delta in India. Seven cholera pandemics have been recorded so far.

Nowadays, cholera is considered to be an endemic disease which can be encountered only in countries with the low level of social development and limited access to clean water and sanitation.

Spanish flu

The Spanish flu was a pandemic that came to Europe from the Iberian Peninsula. The deadly influenza erupted in Europe right during the time of World War I. On the front line, the situation was aggravated by poor nutrition, lack of basic hygiene and necessary medicines. People at the age of 20-45 were the main victims of the Spanish flu.

In 1918, the virus took hold of the entire planet making the disease one of the deadliest pandemics in human history. According to estimates, the influenza killed around 100 million people for 18 months.

Influenza A virus which is a strain of the Spanish flu caused the 2007 avian flu and the 2009 swine flu pandemics.

Smallpox

The exact origin of smallpox is unknown. Presumably, the Middle East was the center of the outbreak.

The first pandemic hit China in the 4th century AD. The following waves of the epidemic occurred in Korea and Japan. During Islamic conquests in the 7-8 centuries, smallpox spread from Spain to India. The disease moved to Europe during the Norman invasion of Paris in the 9th century and continued its march around the world. In the 17–18 centuries, smallpox raged in Europe and Russia, killing several million people per year.

The disease was dangerous not only because of severe course but also its complications, such as extensive scarring of skin and loss of vision. In 1928, smallpox was defeated with the invention of a vaccine.

HIV

The spread of HIV was declared a pandemic in 1981. As of today, around 25 million people have died from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome around the world.

According to the latest UNAIDS report, Eastern Europe and Central Asia are the world’s regions where the HIV epidemic continues to spread rapidly.

However, the situation in other parts of the globe does not get any better. The problem with the spread of the HIV pandemic remains acute and still requires funding for drug purchasing and implementation of preventive measures.